Saint Paul’s choir adjusts to COVID restrictions
Victoria Hammond knows when the congregation of Saint Paul’s Church is able to meet again, the atmosphere will be like Easter morning.
Until then, Hammond and other members of the church’s adult choir are video recording music each Wednesday night to splice into a live-stream at 11 on Sunday mornings. Under the direction of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, which oversees churches from Savannah to Augusta, Saint Paul’s is unable to meet with the number of people in their congregation. No more than 50 people are permitted and the local church has a congregation of approximately 1,000, according to director of music Keith Shafer.
“We could open, but the restrictions are so difficult at the moment that we are choosing to stay closed,” he said.
With many elderly church members, choir member Bob Hood supports the decision to remain closed and thinks its the responsible thing to do.
“We’ll put up with this as long as we have to until it is appropriate and safe for our congregation,” he said. “It’s just not prudent for us to go back to full services. It’s unsafe and it’s unwise and it’s foolish to do otherwise right now.”
No more than four singers are present at the time of recording, and they are spaced more than six feet apart while singing. Videographers and audio technicians are in the balcony to also allow for social distancing. For Shafer, the task is especially challenging as he seeks out or even rewrites music for a quartet versus a 40-member choir.
“Not all choral music transfers well from big choir sound down to four so some pieces work better than others,” he said.
Hammond and Hood agreed that while they are thankful to be able to continue leading worship, it’s not the same without the congregation present.
“Part of the experience when you’re singing with the congregation is that you may not have everyone singing with you on the congregational hymns, but you can see reactions and feelings and this situation has taken away that conversation without words,” Hammond said.
The congregation, Shafer said, has been mostly receptive to the change.
“I know the church is a great comfort to people at this time and music is so much a part of that. We’re just hoping we can return to the way things were before, but in the meantime we’re working very hard,” he said.
Tune in to Saint Paul’s livestream worship at 11 a.m. Sundays at www.facebook.com/saintpaulsaugusta. Listen live on the radio on WGAC FM 95.1 or AM 580. Find other virtual offerings online at www.saintpauls.org.
